Collection #
M 0930,
OM 0452
CLANIN AND NEWTON FAMILY
PAPERS, 1881–1955
Collection Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Series Contents
Cataloging Information
Processed by
Kathryn Wilmot
August 2007
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
www.indianahistory.org
COLLECTION INFORMATION
VOLUME OF
COLLECTION:
1 manuscript box, 1 oversized manuscript folder, 1 artifact
COLLECTION
DATES:
1881–1955
PROVENANCE:
Douglas Clanin, Anderson, IN, September 1999
RESTRICTIONS:
None
COPYRIGHT:
REPRODUCTION
RIGHTS:
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection
must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE
FORMATS:
None
RELATED
HOLDINGS:
ACCESSION
NUMBER:
1999.0632
NOTES:
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Mary Ann “Mollie” Clanin was born in Clermont County, Ohio on 27 May 1849 to Benjamin Clanin and Sarah
Sherman. Mary had at least three other siblings: Thomas, William H., and Benjamin.
Mary married John D. Newton (b. 14 July 1847–d. 20 Nov. 1898) on 25 July 1869. The couple lived on a farm in
Swayzee, Grant County, Indiana. They had two daughters: Minnie F. Newton (b. 6 Sept. 1872–d. 12 May 1948) and
Myrtle Newton (b. 10 Dec. 1874–d. 12 Feb. 1902). Mary Clanin Newton died on 12 November 1942 and is buried in
Converse Cemetery, Grant County, Indiana.
Mary’s brother William H. Clanin was born in March 1844. He married a woman named Demaris. The couple lived in
Huntington County, Indiana, and had at least three children: Russell, Charles, and George. Later in life, William
married again to a woman named Lizzie Taylor. William died in September 1923.
Mary’s other brother Benjamin Clanin was a farm laborer. He had three children, Sherman, Della, and L. Guy.
Sherman and Della lived in Colorado and Guy lived in Kansas City, Kansas.
Sources:
Information in the collection.
Ancestry Library Edition. Available at: http://www.ancestrylibrary.com
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Series 1: Correspondence, 1888–1955 consists of letters belonging to the Clanin and Newton families. Most of the
letters are addressed to Mary A. Clanin Newton, her husband John D. Newton, and their daughter Minnie from
members of the Clanin family. Therefore, the letters primarily provide details on the lives of William H. Clanin and
Benjamin Clanin and their children.
Sharply worded letters written by William Clanin to John D. Newton reveal tensions between the two brothers-in-law
over the care of “mother,” Mrs. Sarah Buroker. William also writes about farming, crops, financial difficulties, and
illnesses such as scarlet fever, typhoid fever, and dysentery. After John D. Newton dies, William continues
corresponding with his sister Mary.
Letters written to Mary from Arkansas, Kansas, and Colorado provide information on Benjamin Clanin and his
children, Sherman, Della, and L. Guy. The correspondents discuss raising chickens and livestock, family reunions, the
Depression and hard times, births, and health issues such as the neuritis paralyzing Sherman’s wife Alice. A letter
from Benjamin to Mary and Minnie advises them to vote for Herbert Hoover rather than Alfred E. Smith, as Benjamin
believed Smith was against Prohibition.
Series 2: Legal and financial documents, ca. 1880–1947 consists of account notebooks, indentures and powers of
attorney, and obituaries and memoriams on the deaths of John D. Newton, Myrtle Newton, and Mary Clanin Newton.
There are also a few documents pertaining to Mary Clanin Newton’s estate.
Series 3: Artifacts, 1905 contains a ribbon from the Twenty-Third Annual Reunion of the Morton Rifles held at
Bluffton, Indiana in October 1905.
SERIES CONTENTS
Series 1: Correspondence, 1888–1955
CONTENTS
CONTAINER
Correspondence, 1888
OM 0452, Folder 1
Correspondence, April 1888–Sept. 1891
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence, May 1892–Dec. 1919
Box 1, Folder 2
Correspondence, Dec. 1921–24
Box 1, Folder 3
Correspondence, March 1925–Nov. 1926
Box 1, Folder 4
Correspondence, Dec. 1926–27
Box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence, Sept. 1928–June 1933
Box 1, Folder 6
Correspondence, Dec. 1940–Feb. 1955
Box 1, Folder 7
Envelopes providing genealogical information,
1918–55
Box 1, Folder 8
Series 2: Legal and financial documents, ca. 1880–1947
CONTENTS
CONTAINER
Chromolithographic scraps, ca. 1880–1910
Box 1, Folder 9
Account notebook, 1881–87
Box 1, Folder 10
Account notebook, 1886–88
Box 1, Folder 11
Account notebook, 1887–89
Box 1, Folder 12
Account statements and receipts, 1887–1948
Box 1, Folder 13
Indentures and powers of attorney, 1888–93
Box 1, Folder 14
Obituaries and memoriams, 1898–1942
Box 1, Folder 15
Account notebook, 1909–50
Box 1, Folder 16
Quindaro Christian Church bulletin, 1924
Box 1, Folder 17
Mary A. Newton estate documents, 1943–47
Box 1, Folder 18
Swayzee M. P. Church newspaper clippings, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 19
Series 3: Artifacts, 1905
CONTENTS
CONTAINER
Morton Rifles Twenty-Third Annual Reunion
ribbon, October 1905
Artifacts: 1999.0632
CATALOGING INFORMATION
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0930).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for
related materials.